Meet imec fellow Jan Genoe

Prof. Jan Genoe is an imec fellow and the scientific director of the sensors & actuators technology (SAT) department at imec. He is also a professor at KU Leuven’s Faculty of Engineering Technology. Since joining imec in 2003, his research has centered on integrating novel materials (such as organic semiconductors and oxide thin films) with circuit and system design. He investigates device behavior under real-world conditions and turns those insights into innovations at both the circuit and system levels. Alongside that core work, he pursues related areas including organic photovoltaics and piezoelectric devices.

He obtained his master’s degree in electrical engineering from KU Leuven in 1988 and completed his PhD in 1994. As a European Human Capital and Mobility Fellow, he conducted postdoctoral research at the High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Grenoble, France. He returned to Belgium in 1997 to lecture in engineering and later became a faculty member at KU Leuven.

As an imec fellow, Jan continues to focus on long-term, exploratory research that opens new technological directions for industry. One of his most important achievements was helping introduce IGZO, an advanced oxide semiconductor, into the chip fabrication process for memory applications, an innovation later recognized by Samsung as a key contribution to imec's core partnership. Jan also played a key role in securing ERC funding to advance the development of barium titanate (BTO), a ferroelectric material now enabling state-of-the-art optical technologies. Earlier in his career, he co-managed the EU-funded Oricla project, focused on developing ultra-low-cost, thin-film radio frequency identification tags (and praised as one of the best-managed initiatives in the entire FP7 framework).

More recently, Jan helped lay the foundations for a new color-splitting technology that improves sensitivity and color accuracy in camera sensors. This innovation is now commercialized through imec spin-off Eyeo. Looking ahead, he and his team aim to push the boundaries of perovskite research, including the ambition to achieve electrically pumped lasing.

He has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, accumulating over 8,000 citations. His work has been prominently featured in the ISSCC Technology Directions track for ten consecutive years, including landmark achievements such as the first organic microprocessor and hybrid oxide–organic RFID tags. In addition to presenting, he is an active member of the ISSCC Technology Directions international program committee, where he helps shape the direction of future research in advanced circuits. He regularly reviews for top-tier journals, including Electron Device Letters, Organic Electronics, and the Journal of Applied Physics.

Jan attributes much of his development to mentors who taught him the importance of vision, integrity, teaching, and supporting PhD students. Prof. Roger Van Overstraeten, his MSc thesis advisor, once asked him to fill in for him and give a lecture, a moment that led Jan to discover his interest in teaching. Prof. Hugo De Man influenced how Jan teaches circuit design, and Prof. Staf Borghs, Jan’s PhD advisor, set the bar for what PhD supervision can be.